Quest for a deadly mushroom
by Measha of Clomati
Summary: A mushroom with the power to kill entire provinces........The evil Ganandorf is after it.....a race against time for Link as he must get there and take the power for good.


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Quest for the magical silver mushroom

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Link ran to Epona and jumped on; they galloped out of the cave and into the light. Epona reared and Link saw several chu-chus oozing towards Epona's feet. She whinnied anxiously and link jumped off Epona to turn them into steaming jelly. One bit him on the leg and the wound started to burn. He scooped up some of the jelly and drank it.

Ah! he finished off half of the jelly and put the rest in one of his glass bottles. The wound disappeared and he swung back on to Epona, who tossed her head and gratefully carried him out of the cave. "Back to Ordon!" he yells, and brandishes his sword. Epona plays her part and rears to give him a heroic pose, then they race through Faron woods, back to Ordon, Link's home village.

Once they arrive, everyone crowds around the questing pair and beg Link to tell of his travels.

First the children. Link plays down the more serious parts for the kids so as not to scare them. "We went into the cave of ordeals to find a health potion that would restore my health and make my attacks stronger." Beth bats her eyelashes at Link "Why would you need to make yourself stronger?" She innocently asks. Malo and Talo roll their eyes. Beth is too young for Link, she is a child of about ten years, and he is almost eighteen, Old enough to go out questing, or marry. Link looked at Beth for a moment and then resumed his story "Epona was only able to go down to the second level of the cave and she was too nervous to go any deeper. I had to fight monsters; goblins, bats, Dark Knights," At this Beth gasped and put her hand over her mouth, fluttering her eyelashes _yet again. _Malo and Talo glared at her and then looked raptly at Link. "There were Chus, Poes, and skeletal creatures," He took a drink from the jug that Ilia sat beside him, and finished his story. "At the bottom of the caves, the lowest level, after I had slain every last beast and monster, I met a beautiful Faerie; she granted me the potion and sent fairies to all of the healing springs in the province. She commended me for my deeds and then gave me the potion. She is now at all of the healing springs, so that whenever I need a refill, I can just come to her." Link bowed mockingly to end his story and then he and Ilia left the question filled youngsters so he could tell the village elders and adults the disturbing news he found on his travels. The children felt cheated and scared at the same time, for usually when Link went questing, he would tell them a long story and stay to answer their questions, fears, and hear what they were up to. He had rushed off so fast that the children knew something was wrong. All except Beth, who was daydreaming. They gathered in the mayor's large wrestling circle that doubled as a council room. Link sat in the middle of the ring, and all of the villagers and elders sat around the outside of the ring. After Ilia had refilled Link's jug she stood behind him in case he needed anything else. The elders nodded for link to begin. "On my last quest for the health restoring potion, I spoke to the cave dwelling faerie who tested my efforts, and she told me of a mushroom with power to kill all living beings when concentrated correctly," A collective gasp went up at this statement. "This mushroom can be aimed at a certain civilization or community and only affect that region, leaving the miscreants unharmed. I am to leave in two days after restocking and resting to retrieve this mushroom before the fallen Ganondorf's warrior's retrieve it." The villagers' faces showed their fear, even though they trusted in Links abilities. "Do the warriors know about the Mushroom?" "Where is it?" "Is Ganondorf alive?" "Whoa whoa people!" everyone stopped talking and looked to Link, hoping for reassurance of the evil man's death, and his minions not knowing of the deadly item. "The mushroom, which is hidden in a jungle maze, was one of the last resorts of Ganon to conquer the world," a nervous elder rasped the question they all wanted to blurt out; "Is Ganondorf dead?" "I cannot say with certainty that he is dead. I have thought that I killed him several times, only to find out that he was still alive. Perhaps this was his final appearance in Hyrule, Perhaps not. But I am confident in my abilities as protector and warrior to keep him from destroying anything." This last bit was mostly to reassure the council. Link _had_ defeated Ganon, but he kept getting better and coming back. And so, Link was not very confident in his abilities. This was the beginning of the quest.


End file.
